I’ve written in the past about how travel can be a great source of inspiration for whatever art or craft or hobby that you pursue. Travel exposes you to new ideas, new […]
Bookbinding excursions in Tokyo, Japan
Why do certain songs materialize in our minds?
Have you ever wondered why a particular song just materializes out of nowhere in your head? One minute, there’s nothing. Next minute, you’re humming a tune. But why? Why that particular song? […]
If you’re a new online store owner who’s just starting out….
….some of these might resonate with you 🙂 Note – this post does not have any pro tips or advice or hacks. It’s meant to illustrate some of the odd behavior you […]
Have you recently bought a product and really liked it? Let the maker know!
If you’re like a typical customer, you buy something, and unless it’s a commodity product (eg: say toothpaste), you tend to either like what you’ve bought, some times you even love it, […]
Pocket notebooks – So cute and the power of constraints
I think we’ve all heard some version of the saying that constraints can be great for creativity. I was faced with a constraint of sorts recently – what do I do with […]
It’s November…and days are now remarkably shorter
Thanks to daylight savings time, these days it’s twilight by 5pm, dark by 6pm. On the other extreme, at the height of summer in June, I make dinner in what feels like […]
5 tools that will help you do bookbinding a lot faster
Making a book using your hands takes time and a lot of patience. There are a lot of steps involved, and each step needs to be executed with a certain level of […]
A hobby can help you during tough times
There are times when one or more things are not going well in our lives. I went through a time like this recently. You put on a brave face, and try and […]
DIY books – How to avoid your book boards from warping using “drumming”
As a bookbinder-in-the making, an issue that I struggle with when making hard cover books is the problem of the book boards warping after the book is allowed to dry for a […]
Should you take custom orders as a new small product business?
When you start a small business that sells a product, at some point you’ll run into customers who’ll ask you for something that you don’t have off the shelf. Instead, you’ll have […]
Sonali Mangal 